Our journey began in 2017 when our founder, Esperance-based author Fleur McDonald, established an online information directory of family and domestic violence services called Breaking the Silence. During her frequent travels she had many conversations with people which demonstrated a need for a service that specifically provided people living in regional, rural and remote communities information about the options available to them when seeking advice and practical support.
Fleur is often referred to as the voice of the outback. From a childhood spent on her parent’s South Australian farm to studying agribusiness at college and eventually co-owning and managing an 3200 hectare property in Esperance, she has always had an affinity with country Australia. Life on the land has been the inspiration for Fleur to write a series of best-selling novels that have made her Australia’s most popular rural literature author. It has also fueled her desire to champion the voice of Australia’s rural women and celebrate their contribution to agribusiness.
Fleur was a WA finalist for the prestigious RIRDC Rural Women’s Award in 2017 and the first female Co-Director for Prickle Farm for her local Rotary Club. She is WA representative of Australian Women in Agriculture and a member of the National Rural Women’s Coalition Communications Resource Team.
